WEEK 7: RADIODRESS VISITING ARTIST

This Week:

We will begin class by viewing your 90 second documentation videos.
Following your presentation, we will take a short break.
Following the short break, Radiodress will take over the class. Trust her.



Next Week:

Next week, you will be competing in a Music Video Challenge. For homework, you will be responsible for making one 2:00- 4:00 song in small groups. Please come to class with your completed song exported as an .MP3 file.

For your song, you may use original, sampled, found, digitally created, diagetic, or folly sounds. The only requirement is that the song be original to your group. This could mean a 100 percent original song and music, a drastic edit of found sounds, or a combination of the two.  Be ambitious and wildly creative through your recording, performance, and editing!

You should come to class with some ideas of what you want your music video to look like. I have reserved the lighting studios downstairs, lighting, and cameras. I will also show you how to appropriate footage from the internet using the Firefox "Download Helper" plugin.

You will have the hour hours of class to film, edit, and present your music videos! GOOD LUCK.

WEEK 6: CRITIQUE CONTINUED

We will continue critiques this week! 

Next week:
1) Visiting Artist: Radiodress aka Reena Katz
You will have a very short reading due for next week. This reading will be emailed to you, and will also be on blackboard. Please also refresh yourself with the Judith Butler text you read in colloquium. Both of these texts will provide you with a valuable framework.


2) Final sound revisions and 90 second video DUE
Your final audio revisions and 90 second "Documentation Video" are due NEXT WEEK (Week beginning February 23, 2015).  We will screen them in the beginning of class.

Please upload your final audio file to a personal soundcloud account. Please upload your video to vimeo. Email Jessica both links before the start of class. Please title your subject line "NAME: Vimeo and Soundcloud links."

Note 1: Please see the prior week's post for more details about the video assignment. Contact me ASAP if you have questions.

Note 2: With free vimeo accounts, there is a considerable wait time before the video goes live. Your video needs to be viewable at the start of class. To avoid problems, please upload your video at least 4 hours before class starts.

Video Editing Workshop
I will be offering a video editing workshop in Adobe Premiere CC on Friday, February 20, 2015 from 1pm-3pm in 214 Shaffer. I will cover the basics, as well as be on hand to help you troubleshoot. PLEASE RSVP by emailing me at jlposner@syr.edu. I will run this if at least one person RSVPs. If you want to come, but cannot make that time, please email me.  
NOTE: THIS WORKSHOP IS CANCELLED BECAUSE I AM SICK. IF YOU WANT EXTRA HELP IN PREMIERE, EMAIL ME. WE CAN SET UP A TIME TO MEET EARLY NEXT WEEK. IF YOU PREFER SELF-DIRECTED TUTORIALS, CHECK THE LYNDA.COM LINKS IN PRIOR POSTS. THERE ARE ALSO TUTORIALS ACCESSIBLE VIA YOUR CREATIVE CLOUD SUBSCRIPTIONS. 

WEEK 5: CRITIQUE

Today we will begin critique of your Site-Specific Sound Projects.

We will travel together as a group to each of your respective locations. We will experience the piece together as a group, each individual listening via headphones and audio device. Following that, we will either discuss the work in the space (if appropriate), or we will move to a nearby location where we can talk as a group.

Next week, we will continue these critiques.



DUE IN TWO WEEKS: DOCUMENTATION VIDEO
As mentioned in prior classes, there will be a visual component to this project. This component will be due in TWO WEEKS, the week of February 23, 2015.

You will be responsible for making a 90 second, video-based excerpt of your site-specific sound project. This video work will serve as "documentation" of the site-specific experience of your work. You may choose to use video, digital photographs placed within a video timeline, or both. You will upload this video to vimeo.com for presentation in class. You will present your works at the beginning of class the week of February 23, 2015.

At the beginning of your video work, please include 3 seconds of "slug" (black), a 5 second title card, and 3 seconds of "slug." This should be BEFORE your video work begins. Please also include 5 seconds of "slug" at the end of your video. This is an example of what your title card should look like:

This purpose of this "documentation" video is to translate the work for people that cannot be there to experience it in-person. Making "documentation" is a valuable skill when displaying more ephemeral, performance-based, or site-specific works online, submitting your work to applications, competitions,  residencies, and more.

You should choose the most dynamic 90 seconds from your work to serve as the soundtrack for your video work. Take risks with your work. The goal should be to translate your sound work into visuals to play with the audio art work, rather than simply illustrating sounds. Edit your video in Adobe Premiere CC. If you feel you need more support in Premiere, please reach out to me sooner than later. Refer to Lynda.com tutorials referenced in prior posts.

Note: Part 2 (the Documentation Video) of this project requires the completion of Part 1 (the Site-Specific Sound project). If you have not to completed Part 1 for whatever reason, you must complete this project in order to receive credit for part 2. Please come talk to me if you need to.

WEEK 4: WEDNESDAY/FRIDAY (read Monday too).

Class Plan:
Your final group critique begins next week! Though we will split the crit over two weeks, everyone's work is due next week. Please be sure to upload your assignment to the server by 9pm (this is a three hour extension) the day before crit, so I can make a playlist that everyone can download. I will have the playlist complete for you to download by midnight. Please come to class with the playlist already downloaded to your device.

You will also be required to upload your final audio work to Soundcloud. It is very user friendly and easy to set up. Contact me if you have issues. This must be completed by Week 6, and will be considered in your grade.

Note: When you export your .MP3 from audacity, be sure to fill out the metadata. You should name it with your name, the title, and "TRM 154" as the album title. This will make it easier to search in iTunes or other media listening software.

TODAY:
1) Engage in in-progress critiques with your small groups. To begin, you must first transfer all of your group's files to your listening device. You will need a listening device and headphones. If you need to borrow headphones, check them out from the cage. Then, proceed to the relevant locations to listen to the works. You should take notes and engage in critical conversation with one another. Ask pointed, critical questions in a respectful way. Always be sure to back up your opinions, thoughts, or suggestions with specific examples from the work. Some questions to guide you are below. We will use these questions to guide us in critique:

• Is the artist making good use of the space they are composing for? Why? or why not?
• Does the artist move you through different spaces (physical, temporal, and/or emotional)? What are those spaces? If yes, how do they do it? If not, what did they do?
• Is the artist utilizing a variety of audio techniques (distance, rhythm, tempo, right and left channels, volume, silence, etc.)? Which ones? How?
• What is your listening experience like? Why? Use specific examples.
• Can you confidently say that the artist has composed a "full sonic-experience" for you? What are some strong examples from the work? Weaker moments in the work?
• What do you think the artist's intentions were for this work?
• Are there things that the artist is doing that could be more effective? What are they? What would you suggest? (Note: please root any suggestions in the work at hand. Be generous, honest, and thoughtful; phrase things in a way that you would like to be spoken to: through kindness.) 

2) Report back to the class as groups. Each member of the group will be responsible for presenting someone else's in-progress work to the class. We will listen to a 30 second-1 minute excerpt of the works in class. Your group will decide which excerpt that will be, and then an individual that is not the artist will briefly talk about the work, guided by the above questions.

3) In-class refresher in Adobe Premiere Pro.

For those that feel they need extra help in this software, please register with Lynda.com and watch this video, covering the essential of editing in Adobe Premiere Pro CC.  If you do not already have an account, you will need to subscribe. This is a valuable "textbook," which I highly recommend anyone that feels they could use more experience with the software check out.

If you would like more experience in Photoshop, I highly recommend this fundamental tutorial for Photographers, and this compositing tutorial.

These tutorials are extremely thorough and professional. You can watch them at your own pace, or choose segments that are the most relevant to you. They also make excellent references when you are troubleshooting or stuck during editing. Though you will not be directly tested on these for this class, they will make your life better in the short and long run. Highly suggested for all students.

WEEK 4: MONDAY CLASS

Monday Class: 

This week, we will be catching up on Week 3 and working in small groups. Your final sound projects will be due for critique NEXT WEEK. Please note, this is a schedule change from the original syllabus. Our class has grown in size, and we need more time to give ample attention to everyone's work. We will use two days for critique, not the original one day as planned.

If you missed class this week, please see "Week 3," check the "Sound" page for updates. Please connect with your classmates sooner than later. Schedule time to meet with me if necessary. Please do this sooner than later. 

For homework this week, you will be responsible for:

1) Completing your sound project.

Please check the "sound" page for more details. In short, your sound piece needs to be:

• site-specific
• for headphones (or talk to me for other arrangements)
• ~5 minutes in length
• pay attention to distance, rhythm, tempo, right and left channels, volume, silence, etc.
• move your audience between two spaces (physical/temporal/emotional)
• a full, sonic experience

2) Connect with your small groups. As part of completing your project, you will need to share your work-in-progress with one another, go to their site, and provide written feedback to your small-groupmates. Please share this feedback with your groupmates, and bring it with you to critique (printed, to turn in). You should be able to do this autonomously, but you may choose to do this together. This is an important step in engaging with and supporting your fellow classmates. You will mutually support one another in making the best work you possible can.